Washington:
US President Obama is seeking to rally anxious Democrats for the final two weeks of the midterm election campaign, traveling to the heart of the electoral battleground to urge them not to be discouraged -- "Don't let them tell you that change isn't possible" -- even as resurgent Republicans continued to expand their sights with the help of deep-pocketed allies.
Campaigning for the first time since the 2008 election with his wife, Michelle, the president visited Cleveland and Columbus Sunday to try to build support for Gov. Ted Strickland of Ohio, one of the embattled Democratic candidates for governor, and to raise money while making the case for Democrats nationwide. The visits are part of an intensive two weeks of campaign travel leading up to the Nov. 2 elections, a sprint that started with trips to Massachusetts on Saturday and Delaware on Friday.
"The biggest mistake we could make right now, Ohio, is to go back to the very same policies that caused all this hurt in the first place," Mr. Obama, his voice hoarse, exhorted to an enthusiastic crowd of an estimated 35,000 people at Ohio State University in Columbus.
"I know it gets discouraging sometimes," he added. "But don't let anybody tell you this fight isn't worth it. Don't let them tell you you're not making a difference."
As he spoke, candidates were preparing for the final stretch. Republican confidence about capturing control of the House remained high, though even Republicans considered the Senate more of a question mark, given the number of excruciatingly close races across the country.
Polls showed a tightening Senate contest in California between Senator Barbara Boxer, the Democrat, and Carly Fiorina, the Republican. In Colorado, Senator Michael Bennet, the Democratic candidate, appeared to be gaining ground on Ken Buck, the Republican. The deadlocked Illinois Senate race continued to worry Republicans as well.
Senator John Cornyn, a Texas Republican who is the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, said again on Sunday that his party could still come up short in its push for the 10 additional seats needed to capture the Senate.
"We have 12 seats in play," Mr. Cornyn said on "Fox News Sunday," adding, "I'm not predicting we're going to get back the majority. It may be a two-cycle process."
Signs of Republican momentum were evident in quarterly fund-raising reports filed on Friday with the Federal Election Commission.
In the 112 House races The New York Times has identified as competitive, Republican candidates raised $53 million combined, compared with $48 million raised by their Democratic rivals. It was a stark reversal from previous quarters, in which Democrats held a commanding fund-raising advantage. Republicans raised more money than their Democratic counterparts in just under half of the races in play.
As they juggled financial resources, party operatives were making moves to give their side its best opportunity. In an illustration of how the expanding battlefield was causing Democrats to alter plans, officials said it was likely that they would soon begin advertising in Arizona to bolster Representative Raúl M. Grijalva, a Democratic incumbent not previously considered in danger.
Senate Republicans said they remained optimistic about their prospects in Pennsylvania, where former Representative Pat Toomey is the party's choice. But Democrats, who have spent $4.2 million on behalf of Representative Joe Sestak, said they did not anticipate scaling back their investment because the race seemed more winnable than other tough contests, including in Missouri, where the party reduced its spending commitment.
At the same time, new outside advocacy groups were continuing to emerge, including the Committee for Working Families, which began making investments in seven House and four Senate races across the country on behalf of Republican candidates or against Democratic candidates. The origination of the group, like others that have played a significant role in the midterm elections, was difficult to determine because the donors are not required by law to be disclosed.
Even though many Republican candidates increased their own fund-raising, such outside groups were still playing an outsize role in key races across the country.
The disparity in many cases was profound. In Iowa, Representative Bruce Braley, a Democrat, was hoping to rely on a substantial financial advantage against his Republican opponent, Ben Lange. Mr. Braley has raised $1.5 million, compared with $368,000 by Mr. Lange. But outside groups have spent nearly $500,000 on behalf of Mr. Lange and have reserved television advertising to double that investment.
With Democrats being swamped by such outside money, party officials were increasingly acknowledging that they were in for a rough election ride. They said that no matter which party ended up controlling the House and the Senate, the margins between majority and minority were going to be much closer, making legislative progress difficult -- a prospect raised by Mr. Obama himself on Saturday.
At a fund-raiser near Boston, he told Democratic donors that Republican obstructionism had turned out to be a "smart tactical decision" intended to leave Democrats to take the blame in the midterms for what would inevitably be a slow recovery, given the depths of the recession.
House Democratic leaders held out hope that experience and preparation could help their candidates thwart a Republican surge. They pointed out that many of the House incumbents long predicted to be all but finished remained in the fight.
"Republicans had hoped there would be a stampede against Democratic incumbents," Representative Chris Van Hollen, Democrat of Maryland and chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said on Sunday. "In fact what is happening is the American voter is taking a deep breath and beginning to take a look at the Republican candidates, and what they see, they don't like."
Mr. Van Hollen and other Democrats pointed to South Florida, where a Tea Party favorite, Allen West, the Republican challenger to Representative Ron Klein, spent much of the weekend trying to refute news reports that he had ties to a motorcycle club linked to criminal activity.
Another potential advantage for Democrats was that while many incumbents had seen their opponents collect more money in recent months, a fund-raising head start meant that many Democrats had more money available for the final weeks.
The New York Times analysis of competitive races showed that Democrats have a cash-on-hand advantage in two-thirds of the races in play. On average, Democratic House candidates in competitive races have about $475,000 in the bank, compared with less than $370,000 for Republicans. That money could prove crucial in last-minute advertising and voter drives.
Many Democratic incumbents have spent heavily to hang on to their seats. About a quarter of them in competitive races poured out more than $1 million each in recent months, compared with just a few Republican challengers who did the same.
Republicans said they did not expect such factors to save Democrats given the anti-incumbent mood of the country over the economy and Washington spending. "The budget just keeps getting bigger and bigger and bigger," Ms. Fiorina, the Republican Senate candidate in California, said on "Fox News Sunday." "It's why voters in California and, I believe, a lot of voters all across the country are tired of career politicians."
The White House chose the swing state of Ohio for the Obamas' first joint appearance for several reasons: because Mr. Strickland's re-election fight is one of the tightest governor's races in the country, because there are enough close Congressional races in Ohio to potentially determine control of the House, and because the state could be crucial for Mr. Obama's own re-election effort in 2012.
Administration officials are counting on the first lady to grab voters' attention. In remarks at an earlier fund-raiser in Cleveland for Mr. Strickland, and in introducing her husband at the rally, the self-described "mom in chief" never mentioned Republicans. Instead she praised the records of Mr. Strickland and Mr. Obama and urged supporters to re-elect Democrats.
"We've got so much more to do!" she said. Then she roused the tens of thousands by twice asking, "Can we do this?" and twice getting back in response the slogan that dates to the 2008 campaign: "Yes, we can!"